enter label: your guide for pushing through tough times

some do's and don'ts

Dear Companions,

I'm sure Faulkner or Muir would provide different points on how to approach hardship. They spoke of wars and scaling mountains. My expertise lies in the trials of an inexplicable illness, an anti-hero turned mutant by an unvetted government vaccine program. But the idea of pressing on surely remains the same.

I’ve made some decisions that are going to challenge my precarious and incomplete recovery. I will lean on what I know so far. That really difficult times are not the time for therapy. They are not the time to distract with abstract things like fixing childhood trauma, existing toxicity, or questioning motivations. This time is about regulating your nervous system and getting through the gauntlet. Finding like-minded people—whether one person or a community, but not diving in so deep that their problems become yours.

Exercise, socializing, or spiritual healers are the classic suggestions, but they might not be accessible. Spiritual healers while at times powerful, have the danger of infecting you with doubt.

Welcome to the meltdown. Slowing down energetically, emotionally, in every aspect. My Brazilian lymphatic masseuse told me she had never felt my thyroid feel so slow. She tapped on my thyroid like it was a speaker and told me to pray. With wet eyes, I tried to explain that if this was depression, it served as protection.

"The pathway to glory is rough, and many gloomy hours obscure it." – Chief Black Hawk

Bodywork

• Do floating (a sensory deprivation experience). With floating you can shortcut to theta waves, typically associated with deep relaxation and creativity, which mostly experienced meditators can achieve.

• Do rolfing, a form of deep tissue bodywork focused on realigning the body through manipulation of the fascia (connective tissues), and one of the best methods for pain and nervous system relief.

• Do acupuncture and ask that they use moxa, used in moxibustion, where dried mugwort is burned near acupuncture points to warm and stimulate Qi for healing. Increasingly acupuncture is covered by insurance which means it either has a great lobby, or it works.

• Do also just find the cheapest options in your ‘hood and repeat. Bob Barker is said to have received a massage every day. He considered it a source of his happiness and longevity.

Battening down the hatches

• Do implement a bedtime. I have already dialed it back to a firm 1030pm bedtime but will be progressively trying to reach 930pm. I lost track this summer. Sometimes I simply feel best late. But if you are trying to batten down the hatches, this is just not the time to start a 4-hour podcast on the Roman Empire or finish that season Alone deep in the night.

• Do breathwork combined with stretches—1x for 15 minutes, then gradually increase to 2x. Try coherent or resonant breathwork, focusing on balancing the parasympathetic nervous system. For me, that's a 5-second inhale and a 7-second exhale, based on professional measurements of my heart rate.

• Do brush up on your TMS ideas

• Do pick a good diet, even if you aren’t perfect. Times of crisis are typically taxing on the metabolic system. Diets can be empowering, superchargers in the Healingvrse. I shift to my classic keto light with deep protein at each meal, healthy carbs like blueberries and raspberries, and yummy coffees and cappuccinos with full fat milk, tasty treats of vanilla ice cream with eggs, cream, and a splash of sweetener (allulose is ideal).

• Do focus on salting your waters with a pinch of water. High stress times are sodium wasting and will dehydrate you faster. For more hydrating and salt specifics, check it out here.

• Do take the fundamental nutrients: DHA/EPA, essential omega-3 fatty acids for brain health; Magnesium Glycinate, a highly absorbable form of magnesium that promotes relaxation and aids in muscle and nerve function; Thiamine (B1), which converts food into energy and supports nerve and brain health; CoQ10, an antioxidant crucial for energy production in cells; Vitamin D, vital for immune function; and Vitamin C, which supports immune health. Here’s a longer post on why we do Vitamin C wrong!

• Do engage with some funny or kind people online

  Wabi Sabi
  Some Guy
  Miter
  loren
  Nadia Gerassimenko
  Mills, ℭ𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔔𝔲𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔞
  .

• Do start weird conversations like whether you’d pick AI or a human if stranded on an island. Continue this inquiry everywhere you go to build up a biblical understanding of this problem for no reason.

Medical provisions

• Do return to your specialist for a plan, even if traditional medicine often fails you. Like a hiker turning into the whiteout, you’ll need extra provisions. I’m going to try a longer acting emergency medication as a preventative for a week to support a dip in hormones that can cause me pain. I know it’s not going to get rid of the problem, but it’s something I can try.

"Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." -Sun Tzu from The Art of War

Self-compassion

• Don’t get mad at myself for saying no—this is temporary.

• Do double down and be kind to the people who are being kind and supportive, check on them as a way of focusing outward (a key to building self-compassion).

• Do tap into the self-compassion practice, please check out Kristen Neff.

• Do simple meditations, 5-15 minutes long like the RAIN meditation.

• Don’t otherwise engage in difficult new ideas of self-analysis.

Grab-bag

• Do take walks and listen to great podcasts. Take pictures of fat birds and fluffy dogs.

• Do read and watch survivalist shows and books. Here are some great stories when yours is lacking.

• Do get some new lip gloss —I’ve always loved this perfectly pink Dior color 001 but mostly I just pick stuff up at Maybelline’s section while waiting in line at the pharmacy

• Do start an incredible book series like Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend or Knausgaard’s My Struggle.

• Do thrift. I got myself this oversized jacket for 30 bucks.

Just remember, you can do it. Even if you do none of the above, you can do it. And if nothing else, try your best to laugh. Even Faulkner was funny from time to time.

I believe that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of [man's] puny inexhaustible voice, still talking.
— William Faulkner

With much love from the Healingvrse,

Rebecca